It is without a doubt that Muhammad is one of the most influential religious figures of all time, being the figurehead for the fastest growing religion and currently the second most prominent religion in the world. With about 1.6 billion Muslims around the world today (23% of the global population), what is it that made Muhammad so effective, and why did we see such a surge in Islam over the past 14 centuries (DeSilver)? Islam is a very easy religion to gravitate towards, particularly for the underprivileged and downtrodden members of society, but there must be something more happening than just religious ideologies. Muhammad’s military initiative and leadership as a general was necessary in the spread of Islam, because it set the stage for …show more content…
The first military aggressions can be seen with the caravan raids, raids against Meccan caravans with the purpose of gaining both supplies and intelligence about the Quraysh (Gabriel). Muslims were able to justify stealing from the Quraysh’s caravans, because they left most of their wealth and possessions behind in Mecca. The Muslim armies continued to expand, as nomadic tribes and other religious groups were swallowed up by the expanding Islamic empire. Muhammad was much more than just simply a skilled war general, he was also a “military theorist, organizational reformer, strategic thinker, operational-level combat commander, political-military leader, heroic soldier, and revolutionary” (Gabriel). The political Muhammad often comes under severe scrutiny, because he executed the “expulsion of two Jewish tribes from Medina and murdered all the members of a third Jewish tribe, except for the women and children, who were sold into slavery” (Bard). It is important to realize that Muhammad, while coming to Medina by request, was not automatically seen as the ruler of Medina by all. He had to use a combination of political, marital, and military tactics in order to secure all of Medina for his own use. A few of the tactics employed, other than the persuasiveness of his faith, included marrying women from influential families in order to gain political power and controlling the markets and traders in order to gain economic power. Throughout the beginning years in Medina, Muhammad’s focus was on securing the “city of the prophet” and building up his forces for larger conflicts with the
In 610 CE, Muhammad, a merchant trader from Mecca (Mecca is also a site of a yearly pilgrimage where Muslims come to perform a rituals at the sacred Ka’ba a.k.a. the holy shrine of Mecca), made one of his frequent visits to a cave by Mount Hira. On his way to the cave, he decided to pray because of all the different causes that made him feel like he was losing his way. During this visit to Mount Hira, the Archangel Gabriel squeezed Muhammad hard forcing the words “Allah is one God” continuously coming out of his mouth. After having these words come out of his mouth for about two years, Muhammad decided that it was the time to encourage others to quote
Islam is a very large and influential religion, it all originated from one man named Muhammad spreading his beliefs to the people of Mecca, and now it has become the second largest religion in the world. How did this come to be? How did a religion that started with one man spread so quickly? methods , purposeful or not, were used. There are a few methods that appeared to be most effective, and those methods can be classified under two categories. Islam expanded from forceful ways such as government laws and military conquest, and from peaceful ways like the religion being a reasonable jump for other religions and Islam being an easily acceptable religion.
The Muslim Empire began to expand vastly under the Umayyads, with the empire becoming so large many people were converting to Islam religion. The Umayyads were the second of the four major caliphates after the death of Muhammad. The Empire used many different ways to spread the Islamic civilization consisting of war, classes, and appeal. The Islamic civilization spread so strongly because of the way it allured the common man.
One of the reasons why Islam spread so quickly was because of the trading that was happening about the time islam first began. The people how were trading goods with the muslims would spread the word about muhammad in their home towns. Muhammad lived in Mecca, which was a very important and rich town . Mecca was a major crossroads for for the caravan trade. Everything from silk to spices came through Mecca. People from every direction came to Mecca to trade. Muhammad and his followers would tell the traders about Islam and some
For example, the spread of Islam to the Byzantines and the Persians. The other caliphs (Umar, Uthman and Ali) expanded the Islamic empire rapidly and grew faster than any other religion. The Muslims conquered a massive amount of land from the Indus River, across North Africa and into Spain. There were many factors that helped Islam succeed; for example, people would rather fight for God and their salvation instead of fighting for a king, the use of military force by the Muslims and how easy it was to convert to Islam.
For forty-one year’s Muhammad spread the word of the Nation of Islam, slowly but steadily attracting new members (biography.com). Muhammad built the religion from a small fringe group into a large and complex organization that attracted controversy along with its new prominence (biography.com). His legacy within the Nation of Islam intact, Muhammad, or simply “The Prophet,” is widely remembered for transforming a small temple into a nationwide movement with hundreds of thousands of devoted followers, culminating in an irrevocable effect on black culture and U.S. history (blackhistorynow.com).
Although there are many religious in history, Islam is one of the quickest spreading in the Middle East. According to Document A, cultural diffusion helped advance the religion of Islam. For example, the city of Mecca was the center of trade, which meant there were many trade routes connected to Mecca. Some trade routes travelled farther away, like to India or China and Islam's culture and religion grew from all the trading. Document B explains that Islam spread so quickly because the laws from their God appealed to many. In other words, the laws of the Muslim community were fair, wanted people to be kind not evil, told followers their property would not be stolen or destroyed and also promised them afterlife in paradise. People that were not
The Muslims would also give gifts called stipends to conquered people who helped the Islam’s. The next paragraph will be explaining how Muslims fought for land and how that was important. The Muslims could be said to have fought for land to increase their expansion of their empire. Mainly, every Muslim participated to help defeat the opposing army and take control of the land. I think that the Muslims did this because they were very faithful and confident that their God, Allah, would help them.
The town of Mecca was the birthplace of Islam, at first the leaders of the city refused the changing of this new religion and forced Muhammad to leave. Muhammad returned and preached to the people about what he had heard, that there is only one god. Islam spread quickly for two main reasons they are the message and military conquest.
Muhammad was very knowledgeable and knew that to take over Mecca and get Meccans to convert to Islam would be by raiding Meccan Caravans. Muhammad commanded his own military even though he had no experience in military dealings, except briefly when he was fourteen he went alongside his uncle to retrieve arrows to shoot back at the enemy (Gabriel 55). He commanded a lot of battles and raids, but there are four major battles he commanded; the battle of Badr,
Mecca is also known as Makkah and its full name is Makkah al-Mukkaramah. Mecca is a city in the Hijaz region of western Saudi Arabia. It is known as the holiest site in the Islamic religion. The history of Mecca goes back as early as the fifth century. It was an independent and powerful city in pre-Islamic times. It is the religious center for Islamic people and it houses the Kaaba and the Great Mosque. It is also the birthplace of Muhammad, the first capital of caliphate, and the center of present day mosques. In 630 Muhammad and some of his followers went into the city of Mecca and captured it. Mecca is said to have started one of the most important religions in the world and it brings together the Islamic religion.
...f the warring tribes was obtaining booty, or riches, not following the scriptures of the Quran or examples of Mohammed
The prophet Muhammad had a significant impact on the rise and spread of the religion Islam. According to World Civilizations, Muhammad “began receiving revelations transmitted from Allah,” and later these revelations became holy scripts in the Quran. Muhammad started off with very few followers but as the faith of Allah started to spread, he gained more followers and he became a threat to Mecca’s rulers. As mentioned in World Civilization, “in 622 Muhammad left Mecca for Medina where his skilled leadership brought new followers.” In Medina, Muhammad became the religious authority in the area and he used this power to conquer Mecca, a holy place for Islamic believers. By the time of his death, he was able to have created a religious empire that controlled all of the Arabian Peninsula.
At the time Medina’s population consisted of half Jews, a quarter Aws (Arab tribe) and a quarter Kharajites (another Arab tribe). The city was in disagreement as the two Arabic tribes were fighting so they all agreed that they needed someone to lead them. The Jews did not want a polytheistic leader and had heard of Muhammad’s teachings, they were all in agreement to invite Muhammad to their city. Muhammad accepts their offer as if He had stayed in Mecca him and His followers would have been tortured and killed for their beliefs and Muhammad needed to stay alive to spread the word of God. “The transition from Mecca to Medina marked a change in the role of Muhammad from Prophet to Ruler and from Warner to Warrior” (Cragg). This journey is called ‘The Hijrah’ which literally means ‘The Flight’ “the emigration marked a turning point in history”.
He had the kunya `Al Amin' meaning trustworthy, which would allow the people of Mecca to be aware that he was not making this up helping him convince them that Islam was the monotheistic religion they were waiting for.